Natsu's Stars in Lucy's Sky
by DancesWithSeatbelts
Summary: Lucy is seeking professional help, that's the responsible thing to do when you can't stop watching and wanting your best friend; it's putting a strain on their working relationship. Lucy is worried about her dreams, can she restrain herself from acting on her nocturnal impulses? Implied lemons. A mission to a resort could stir up passions. Nalu, Gruvia, Gajevy
1. Doctor Nora Needs Details

After knocking on the closed door of the office, Lucy entered the beige decorated room and gave a timid smile to the woman who introduced herself as Nora. "Let's get started right away, shall we?"

Lucy sat down on the softly padded chair and crossed her legs as she started talking. "So, uh I guess the first time was after the King's party." She blushed and paused, lacing her fingers together and then swiftly pulling them apart to wipe them on her thighs. Her gaze dropped to her lap and then after a soft sigh, she stiffened her spine and spoke again. "You sure you want all the details I can remember?" Without waiting for a response, the blonde celestial mage pursed her lips and continued. "It was late after all the dancing and we were playing hide and seek, chasing each other in the rooms opened to the public. We were running farther and farther into the private areas of the palace and we found a sumptuous guest room. We locked ourselves in with a couple of bottles and proceeded to drink."

Lucy's companion nodded and scribbled a couple of notes in her book. Smiling, Nora leaned back in her chair behind the heavy wooden desk. "The more particulars you can give me, the better."

Pink bloomed in Lucy's cheeks and her throat worked nervously. "So, we were separated from our guild mates and we had a few too many drinks. We were drunk, but not that out of it, just feeling a little 'insulated' and exhilarated from the party. I remember Natsu spilling his drink on his shirt and stripping it off like Gray does. He dropped the bottle and fell back in the bed. I was laughing and I jumped in the bed with him. Usually he's the one that sneaks into my bed in the middle of the night, but I figured I'd be the one to join him this time."

Lucy's cohort settled into her chair and nodded. "Don't worry about shocking me, you need to express yourself freely."

"Ah, so I jumped into bed with him and I landed right on top of him because he moved." Lucy closed her eyes as she relived the moment and her breathing sped up. "I remember the feel of his bare chest squashed against my face. Not the most sexy first move, but it led to him rolling on top of me and pinning my hands down."

Licking her lips, Lucy also crossed and uncrossed her legs, "He laughed and it lit up his eyes in a way I'd never noticed before. I struggled a bit and he asked me if I wanted to play another round of hide and seek. He didn't even wait for me to answer and I couldn't because he went ahead and kissed me."

"Interesting, please tell me more. How did that make you feel?"

"Mostly shocked at first. He's nakama, my best friend and there he was with his warm tongue in my mouth and it made my heart stutter. His hips at this point were digging into me," Lucy blushed a fiery red, "and he was excited."

"Dear, be as graphic as you need to be." Nora smiled beatifically, "I can assure you, there isn't anything you can't tell me that I haven't heard before."

"I'll try." The celestial mage looked down into her lap where her right hand tightened into a fist and shook a little. Her generous lips pressed firmly and she decided to drop the candy-coating on her words. "I was moaning rather a lot at that point. His muscles have always been a turn-on for me - and having him writhe on top of me half naked sent my libido into over-drive."

Forcing her hand to relax, Lucy continued. "I remember thinking both his belt and his erection were going to leave marks. You know I was wearing a fancy ball gown with layers of skirt? It didn't blunt the impression his penis was making at all. He released my hands and put his weight on his elbows and started giving me love bites on my neck. The neckline was very deep and he worked his way down my breasts."

"My head was thrashing from side to side and he was slowly driving me out of my mind. His lips and teeth should be registered as lethal weapons." The blonde sighed, "So sharp and yet careful. He had my bodice bunched around my waist and he suddenly stopped."

Lucy let out a sharp bark of laughter. "I was pissed, I was livid, I was not going to let him tease me and run. I looked him in the eyes and I initiated the next kiss. I sank my fingers into his hair and attacked his lips. I don't know which of us was moaning louder, but he actually shivered when I trailed kisses over his jaw. I used that distraction to work his belt open and he finally got the message we were wearing too many clothes."

"He was only too happy to remove his pants and boxers and unzip my dress. I'm not sure how he did it without standing up, but the next thing I knew, the ball gown was discarded. I was straddling his naked hips wearing only panties as he panted under me. His fingers gripped my hips and he was pushing up and swearing and pleading with me."

"He groaned my name, well, his pet name for me. He exhaled 'Luce' and all my inhibitions crumbled. He's a mass of contradictions. He's always been a good friend, loyal and caring - but clueless when it comes to romance. There was this time when Mira had me convinced he was going to confess to me and all he wanted was to borrow Virgo for treasure digging."

The scratching of the pen taking notes slowed. "I'd love to hear that full story later, but this session is to give you an opportunity to express your first experience."

"You're right, sorry. I was on top and he had just said 'Luce' in a tone which had me more fired up than ever. He had a light sheen of sweat coating his broad shoulders and he was taking in air with shallow breaths. His onyx eyes were hooded and gleaming. I couldn't resist the urge to trail a finger down his sternum, travelling around his belly button and caressing his flank. I made sure to continue kissing his ear. He hissed many swear words as I continued my assault on his virtue."

At this point, Lucy was a bit more at ease relating her story and a boastful tone crept into her voice. "I had him swearing like a factory worker. I couldn't get enough of his hands on my breasts but I wanted more contact. I whispered into his ear that I was ready and he should take what he wanted. He flipped us over and was biting the back of my neck almost before I knew what was happening. He ripped my panties off and immediately sank into my welcome heat. He was primal, animalistic - guttural moans issued from his throat and it made my heart race. His hips jack hammered a relentless pace, the pain of possession faded impossibly fast and pleasure took hold."

"He made love to me, marked me body and soul. Natsu claimed every future breath I will ever take. There is nothing without him, every path displays his stars in my sky. Even now, I have a need to return to his arms and submit."

Lucy's companion slowed her scribbling and dropped her pen. She looked pensive and laced her fingers together on her desk. "This is a very good first step. Admitting you have a problem is the first step on the road to recovery."

Feeling a bit relieved and bashful, Lucy let her eyes wander around the psychologist's office. "Every other sex dream I've had of Natsu has only gotten more detailed and it's made a bit of a strain on our working relationship. I have a hard time keeping my eyes off his ass. I worry that I might be drooling when he wears his vest. At odd times I find myself just contemplating his hands - thinking how strong and capable they are - how good they would feel touching me."

Nora flipped her notebook shut and leaned forward in her chair with a solemn expression on her face. "I'd like to schedule another session for next week. I want you to keep a dream journal and write down everything you can remember when you wake up. This will be a vital tool in your recovery - absolutely any and every detail no matter how small or erotic." The business suited professional smiled gently and flipped open an old issue of Sorcerer's Weekly. She quickly found the bookmarked page and unconsciously licked her lips as she admired the beefcake photo of Natsu. "I can see why your subconscious desires Natsu."

Lucy blushed and admitted, "I already have a fantasy journal. See you next week!"


	2. G'Night Luce, Sweet Dreams

_**A/N: I used a real children's story from Grimm's Fairy Tales, called 'The Star-Money'. I decided not to copy it word for word, anyone interested in reading it just google any combination of 'Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Star-Money' It's pretty short- I do not own the majesty that is Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail, nor do I claim ownership of Grimm's Fairy Tales. What I will do for the lucky people that bother wading through cumbersome author's notes, is recommend an awesome story by my friend obsessedwithnalu : s/10237187/1/Bells yes, the last chapter of the manga was awesome, and the anime showed a fair amount of skin and embarrassed interactions between Natsu and Lucy - but I love this story. Give it a read if you choose. I'm not the most tech savvy, so if the link doesn't work, search 'Bells' lol**_

* * *

Mira smiled at Lucy. "You can tell me what's going on. I care about everyone in the guild! I've noticed little things. I know something is wrong. How can I become a godmother to your future children if you distance yourself from Natsu?" Mirajane got progressively louder as she spoke to the celestial mage and big tears started forming in her impossibly bright blue eyes.

"There's nothing going on! Every thing is the same between me and Natsu!" Lucy was exasperated. "He's the same wonderful best friend he's always been to me!" The blonde took a long slug of her milkshake, and regretted the instant brain freeze. "Fuck!" She grabbed her forehead and winced in pain. "Lord love a duck!" Lucy rocked back and forth on her barstool, only aware of the intense throbbing her brain was experiencing.

Warm hands captured her head and soothed Lucy's pain. She allowed herself to be coddled and relieved. The hot hands gave her respite until she thought about exactly who had such delightful steamy control over the temperature of their extremities. Lucy stiffened and pushed away from her best friend. "Thanks Natsu, but I'm okay now."

"Weirdo!" Natsu grinned carelessly at Lucy and then turned his attention to the white haired barmaid. "Can I get a double fire whiskey?"

Mira sweetly smiled and filled his order. "Enjoy!" She pushed the glass over to Natsu after she lit it on fire.

The pink haired slayer inhaled half of the drink in one gulp. He patted Lucy's shoulder clumsily and gestured to his beverage. "Have some of my drink, it'll help with the brain freeze."

Lucy gave Natsu an uncertain smile, "I think I'm good, you enjoy your booze. You've already fixed me up."

He pouted and shook his head. "Nope, you gotta try some of my fire whiskey. It'll warm you from the inside out."

Her shoulders dropped in defeat, Lucy grabbed the glass and swallowed a mouthful of liquid heat. She almost spewed it into Natsu's face, but managed to swallow. "Thanks Natsu," she croaked.

"Any time you need help Lucy," Natsu replied, "I'll be there to give you what you need."

Mira patted Lucy's hand and smiled meaningfully at the blonde. "You should remember that, Natsu will give you what you need."

Lucy gritted her teeth and nodded at the demon match-maker, her eyes darting over to the supply closet. "Yes, and don't forget that I know who gives you what you need."

Mira started polishing the spotless bar with a clean towel, looking right and then left. "Oh Lisanna is calling me, talk to you later Lucy!"

Natsu didn't question the smug smile on his best friend's lips. He preferred to ignore everything that didn't make sense. "I'm ready to walk you home. C'mon Luce, it's been a long day and I need my rest."

Lucy was both thrilled and aghast. Her mind worked feverishly **- what if I assault him in my sleep? What if my dreams are so depraved I act on them while he's asleep and unprotected?**

He drained the last of his fire whiskey and linked his arm in hers, yelling at Happy. "We're going right now!"

The blue exceed flew over his two favourite humans. Happy gave Lucy a critical going over, "You look like crap Lushi!"

The blonde rolled her eyes and ghosted her free hand over Natsu's grip on her other arm. "I think I'm too tired for you Happy. I haven't had a good night's rest in three days."

Natsu cocked his head and peered into Lucy's eyes. "Isn't that because you're supposed to sleep at night, not in the day time?"

Happy giggled and agreed, "Aye!"

Lucy had a swift internal debate with herself and decided against slapping some smarts into her attractive co-worker. Instead, she took a deep breath and held it as long as she could. Letting the breath hiss out of her lungs, Lucy felt a little more in control. "That's just a figure of speech. I'll let you walk me home now, okay?"

The dragon slayer nodded eagerly. "You have to tell me a bed time story tonight."

"When did I agree to that?" Lucy was honestly mystified.

"Lushi! I want a story with fish!" Happy let his wings go and dropped into her cleavage. Reflexively, Lucy caught the exceed and cuddled him to her chest. She shrugged her arm out of Natsu's grasp and made her way out of the guild. Peeping his head over Lucy's shoulder, Happy gave Natsu a smug smile. "Lushi likes me best and she's gonna tell me the best fish story, ever!"

Natsu followed his partners and grinned happily. "It'll be my turn next!"

Lucy grumbled, "Likes who more? It's more like which one of you two have pissed me off the least." The cozy trio walked towards Strawberry Street, with Happy and Natsu bickering over the bedtime story and Lucy playing referee.

As Lucy took hold of her apartment keys from her key ring, Natsu and Happy flew up to her bedroom window and entered her house. She looked up as her partners snickered, already inside her room. "Hurry up weirdo!" Natsu hollered down at Lucy, "I need a bedtime snack, too!"

Jogging up the stairs, Lucy sped to her door. The doorknob was yanked out of her hand, and she was pulled inside her apartment and ushered into the kitchen.

"Lucy! I'm starving!" Natsu gave the girl his best pleading look. "Anything you fix will be good, I know you don't want me making a mess. I'll be warming up the bed, okay?"

"Fish! I want fish!" Happy flew in circles around the two mages. "Gimme two - I'm gonna give Charle a present."

"Good idea, Buddy," Natsu gave Happy a high five. "The three hundred, sixty-seventh time is sure to be the charm!"

Lucy shrugged and dove into the fridge, hunting out ingredients. She accumulated a pile of assorted items and gave Happy two mackerels.

He greedily stuffed one in his mouth and trussed the other up in ribbon. "Fanks Lushi! Don't wait up for me!" Happy flew out of the kitchen and departed out of Lucy's open bedroom window.

Natsu waved and chuckled. "He forgot all about the bedtime story! Now you can give me what I want!"

As Natsu put his hand on the bedroom doorknob, Lucy hissed, "You are _not_ putting crumbs in my bed tonight! You are going to eat at the table." Hearing the leashed fury in her voice, the pink haired boy did an abrupt about face and marched over to his regular seat at the table. Lucy finished preparing Natsu's sandwich and calmly cut it in half and set it in front of him.

"Thank you Lucy!"

Before she could even walk over to her chair, Natsu had consumed his snack, jumped out of his chair, dodged in front of her and leapt into bed. Grumbling under her breath, Lucy pulled out a fresh set of pyjamas from her dresser and trudged her way to the bathroom. She showered and dressed in her night attire, worrying about her dreams. Having lingered longer than usual, Lucy was surprised to see Natsu still awake.

"Oi, Luce! You tryin' to get out of telling me a story?" Natsu grinned and pulled back the covers on Lucy's side of the bed. "Celestial mages never break a promise, that's what I heard."

"That's true, but I -" Lucy's words were cut off as Natsu reached over and yanked her into bed. She grimaced and glared into his mirthful face. "Why'd you do that?"

"I wanted you to hurry up, I can't relax until I know you're here." His cheeks turned a little pink and he partially turned away, "Ever since the Grand Magic Games, I've had some problems sleeping."

"Huh," the blonde admitted, "me too. I've had some seriously weird dreams."

Natsu burst out laughing. "Duh! You're a weirdo!"

The pillow Lucy smacked him with only muffled his mirth, but as she increased the pressure the way his arms flailed helplessly gave her a measure of joy. He held onto it as she tried to take it back and laughed even more uproariously as he suddenly let go and she almost fell out of bed.

Lucy stopped thinking about her worries as she tussled with her best friend. Retaliation led to retaliation. Out of breath, she flopped onto her back and gave Natsu one last elbow to the ribs. "Okay, now I'm tired and ready for sleep."

"But I want a story!" Natsu pouted, "C'mon, you know lots of good stories."

Sighing loudly, Lucy rolled out of bed and stalked over to her bookshelf and grabbed a slim volume of classic children's fairy tales. She clambered back into bed after tossing the book at Natsu's face and turning on the bedside lamp. "Pick one and I'll read it to you."

""But I wanted you to write me one!" He stopped whining and got to checking out his options as the veins in Lucy's forehead throbbed. "This one looks interesting! Read me 'The Star-Money' - then I can relax."

Lucy opened the book and read the short story aloud to Natsu. He kept quiet but grabbed her around the waist and clutched her tighter and tighter as the story progressed. The blonde spoke the words 'The end' and tried to wriggle out of Natsu's death grip. "Let go! Are you scared?"

Natsu scoffed, "Hell no! I ain't scared of money coming down from the sky! I was a little worried for the kid in the story giving away everything until nothing was left. You sure have the weirdest books."

"These are classics, 'Grimm's Fairy Tales' are very old folklore. My parents gave me these, they are among my most treasured possessions. Stop messing about and let's sleep."

"G'night Luce, sweet dreams."

"Good night, Natsu." Lucy slipped the book onto the floor under the bed and turned off the lamp. She made a swift prayer to whatever spirits may be listening. _**Please don't let me have another sex dream tonight, don't let me play Lucy Wander Hands...**_

Sometimes the spirits listen and grant what the heart needs rather than what the head has decided. Sometimes, things just happen for no other reason than coincidence.

Even though Lucy was stressed about her nocturnal problems, she fell asleep before her partner. The story she'd read to Natsu had lingered in his thoughts and puzzled him. The story had been kinda short. Basically an innocent poor girl giving and giving of her possessions to be rewarded at the end with money.

Natsu was confused, he would never give away his scarf. He could lend it to Lucy - he knew she'd take good care of it and give it back. It even made him feel a little odd to do so, but 'odd' in a manner that didn't feel bad. But the character in the story had no expectations of getting back her food or clothes. She gave everything she had - and was rewarded by some strange third party sky windfall. None of the people she'd helped had repaid her, just some mysterious 'other' dropping money from the stars.

Natsu smiled at the brief image of Lucy giving away her shirt - for in his thoughts, the orphan girl became his Luce and it reminded him of the brief ride inside the church bell. He wrestled with his thoughts and gathered Lucy in his arms to sooth his brain. He fell asleep with his nose in her hair; one hand pinned up against his stomach, the other loosely grabbing her hip. Natsu growled, low but intense. Staking an unaware claim on his favourite person as he fully drifted into his dreams.

During the night, Lucy pulled herself closer to her personal furnace and clutched him tight. Her limbs jerked and repositioned themselves, one leg pushing between Natsu's as she shifted to sleep on her side, facing him. Her hand ran up and down his stomach before forcing itself under his arm and around to stroke his back. Lucy was held tight in the enchantment of her dreams, never knowing this was the point where Natsu was startled awake.

The dragon slayer's consciousness was brought to a high level of alert at the point where Lucy's fingers had danced over his abdomen. His eyes snapped open and he assessed the situation. _**It's still dark, clock says it's one a.m. - Happy isn't here, who the hell is tickling me?**_ His heart beat slowed a little then resumed speeding up as he felt Lucy's slender fingers stroke his spine. _**Weirdo!**_ He grinned, thinking she wanted another tickle fight. "Yo Luce," he spoke casually at a volume just over a whisper. "Whatcha think you're doing?"

"Mmmm, ugh," Lucy giggled and dragged her nails down his back. "Hmmn, yah."

Natsu could feel his stomach drop and an odd feeling grow in the pit of his belly. He blushed and pulled away. This didn't deter Lucy, she kept mumbling nonsense sounds and scooted over to lay pressed fully against him. Panicked, he rolled to face away from her questing hands. She quieted and stopped her verbalizations but not before one last throaty moan emerged and her whole body shuddered. Natsu kept replaying the sound over and over; it made the odd feeling in his stomach flutter and feel kinda warm. He calmed down as his partner relaxed her grip on his hip, falling back asleep as Lucy started delicately snoring.

Close to six in the morning is when Lucy became too hot and struggled to throw off her covers. Happy grumbled as the blonde accidentally booted him, but moved over to Natsu's side of the bed and curled up at his feet. The exceed had learned not to come between the two humans when they slept, it was safest either at their feet or above their heads.

One of the first times that Natsu and Happy had snuck into Lucy's apartment to sleep, the exceed become trapped under Lucy's huge rack and almost suffocated. Natsu had had to rescue him. Lucy woke up in the middle of the extraction; slapping both of them, shrieking the whole time about 'taking liberties' and that they were 'lecherous fiends'. She did not take kindly to Natsu laughing in her face, or Happy crying 'attempted murderer' every time he crossed paths with her for several weeks after.

Lucy sighed and luxuriated in the cool of the morning. After several minutes the cold lost its allure and she cuddled back up to her partner. _**Another erotic dream, but at least I'm still in my pyjamas and he's in his pants. Thank God!**_ Lucy smiled and laid in bed, enjoying the sense of victory being fully clothed after enjoying/enduring another passionate dream starring her partner.

Needing to relieve the pressure on her bladder, Lucy got out of bed and tended to her personal needs. Grabbing a housecoat, she shrugged it on and settled herself at her writing desk. Quickly writing, she jotted down everything she could remember of her erotic dream. After the first rush of words, she went over and added more details to specific events.

"Whatcha writing? Gonna make me a better bedtime story?" Natsu grinned easily and scratched his stomach, peering casually at her scattered manuscript.

Lucy coloured a deep red, mortified to be caught recording such lustful memories. She scooped the papers together and slammed a heavy tome overtop of them. "Don't be such a nosy bastard! These are private!" Lucy huffed and shot out of her chair, dragging Natsu into the kitchen. "How about I make you some breakfast?"

"Sure," Natsu agreed peaceably, "What's on the menu?"

Blushing even harder, Lucy pulled open the fridge door and stuck her head inside, hoping to cool off. "Bacon, eggs and toast. Take it or leave it." She removed all necessary ingredients and started to boil a kettle for tea. _**It's only a coincidence he used the exact phrase 'what's on the menu?' in my dream and right now. He has no idea, he can't possibly...**_

"Lemme help with getting the water hot," Natsu offered, and backed away with his hands in the air as Lucy gave him the 'stink-eye'. "I'll just sit and wait then, you are such a weirdo." He pulled out a chair from the table and watched Lucy pull together a quick breakfast.

Happy came flying out of the bedroom and parked himself on the table next to Natsu. "Lucy kicked me this morning. Why does she hate me so much?"

"I don't know, little Buddy. I think she's having some sort of female problems." The dragon slayer said this in an overstated whisper, looking over at his friend, waiting for her to blow up.

Jumping on the opportunity, Happy smiled evilly and added fuel to the fire. "She's got more than just girl problems - she makes funny sounds at night too!"

Eyes twitching, Lucy finished steeping the tea and brought the teapot over to the table to pour. "I do _not_ make funny sounds, and it was an accident that I kicked you. Next time it will be on purpose if you don't zip it, damn cat."

"Wah, Lucy is sooooo mean!" Happy grabbed an empty mug from the center of the table and held it out to be filled. "How about some milk?" Happy smiled in thanks as Lucy fetched the milk and then returned to his favourite pastime. "You've even attacked Natsu in the middle of the night!"

Both Natsu and Lucy were confused, blurting, "What?"

Lucy turned her back to her semi-welcome guests and concentrated on not burning the eggs and bacon. _**Is Happy talking about last night or some other night? We're still in the clothes we slept in, Happy is just being an ass-clown.**_ "You shouldn't hang out with Juvia so much Happy, you're getting confused like she does."

Natsu scratched his head and thought to himself. _**Lucy tickled me and scratched my back a little - that can't be considered an attack. More like play fighting. Happy just doesn't understand human interactions.**_ "Lucy wouldn't attack me, Happy. But if she wants to fight," he thumped his fist on the table, "I'll fight you any time, any where Luce!"

"Yah, thanks for the offer. I'll be sure to take that into consideration." Lucy could feel some of the stress she was under drop away with the pure expression on his face. _**He's not acting like I've done anything perverted to him at all, I must not have done anything weird then.**_ She moved the butter and jam to the table and thrust a stack of bread at Natsu. "Make yourself useful and toast the bread."

Lucy finished dishing up the food, giving the dragon's share to Natsu and opening a tin of sardines for the pesky exceed. Sitting down to enjoy the repast, Lucy was feeling relaxed and at ease.

Happy devoured the fish and gulped the last of his milky tea. He gifted the blonde mage with a wide smile, sparkles in his eyes. Happy shifted his gaze to Natsu. "Last night, Lucy was making sounds like what I've heard come from the supply closet at the guild."


	3. Reverie

**Beware: Dream Lemon, and a mention of self pleasure-Near the end of the chapter. Are you old enough to read this? No? You go now. Yes? I warned you.**

* * *

An oppressive silence descended on the once cozy kitchen, Happy used his magic and flew out of the room, to make his escape out of the bedroom window. Lucy sat frozen and numb. She couldn't work any words out of her throat, she could only stare mute and embarrassed at her confused partner. _**He has no idea what Happy meant by that, does he? If I can figure something out quick, I can distract him and problem solved.**_ "Um, I must've had a dream about stocking the supply closet." Her face brightened and she went with her explanation. "Happy sure gets the funniest ideas, huh? I was probably reading a stock list and moving cans of fish around. Trust a cat to think about fish."

Relieved to go along with Lucy's fabrication, Natsu gave a jerky nod. "Yah, that Happy sure is crazy for fish." He dropped his eyes to his plate and pushed his food around. _**The sound Lucy made last night, I've heard it coming from the supply closet too - what the hell is going on in there? **_"Let's go to the guild after breakfast and pick out a mission." He shovelled a large forkful of eggs into his mouth and pushed a full piece of toast in after it. Thumping an elbow on the table he picked up his tea and took a big slurp.

"Natsu! How many times do I have to tell you to use manners when we eat?" Lucy could feel her pulse return to normal as her idiot partner gobbled his food and scattered his crumbs over the table.

Natsu made sure to keep his smug smile hidden as his Luce let out her frustrations over his eating habits. "If you bring the book of fairy tales with us, I'll let you pick the mission." Lucy glowered at him, and he could hardly keep his glee hidden. _**She makes the cutest frowny face. **_Natsu stuffed more food into his cheeks and grabbed a piece of bacon off Lucy's plate. _**Yell at me, I want you to.**_

"That's my bacon!" Lucy yelped. She pinched his arm as he waved his stolen treat out of her reach. "Natsu! I already gave you most of the food, why'd you take mine?"

"Happy said your ass was fatter this morning. I'm just helping you out," Natsu smiled angelically. Lucy yelped and stood up out of her chair to pat her behind, circling and twisting her body awkwardly, checking to see if it had expanded.

Natsu was caught between the desire to laugh and reassure his partner that her ass was looking fine as ever. Lucy missed the brief wrinkling of his brows. _**Since when do I think about how fine her ass is? Or the cute frowny faces she makes? There's something different about how she smells.**_

"Hey, weirdo! Sit down and finish your food. I was just teasing you, you're too gullible Luce!" The slayer jammed another piece of toast into his wide mouth and forked up more eggs. "You look fine!"

Lucy sat back down with a 'Hmmpphht' and stabbed her food petulantly. Soon, there were only crumbs left on the table. The blonde drained her tea and began to clear the table. Natsu covered his mouth and burped, "Thanks for feeding me. Get ready, wash up and go get dressed - I'll clean the dishes."

Turning around slowly, Lucy tilted her head disbelievingly at her partner, "I'll do that, hope the spell you're under doesn't break before you're done."

"Don't be like that, I just wanna show you I can be helpful."

Lucy handed him a dishrag with one hand and patted his shoulder with the other. "Thanks." He grinned and it only lost a little bit of its shine when she walked out of the kitchen and added, "Don't break anything."

In the privacy of her shower, Lucy enjoyed a brief reverie. Smiling, she soaped her limbs and remembered the climax of her dream.

_**Natsu had climbed into her bedroom window, but tonight she'd been sitting on her bed waiting and watching for him. She was wearing just a towel, fresh from a shower. He lithely jumped down from the sill and stalked over to her.**_

_**He stared into her eyes until she fidgeted. Natsu grasped her chin as she tried to look away and brought his face closer, she could feel his breath on her cheeks. His face was all she could see. The towel she was wrapped in felt like an encumbrance, too weighty, too rough and very unnecessary. Lucy's heart was thumping loudly. She focused on his lips, just now realizing they were open and he was speaking in the most teasing tone she'd ever heard from him.**_

_**"So, Lucy. You want to tell me or show me? What's on the menu?" He closed the gap and didn't allow her to answer. He was coaxing moans from her with his tongue and lips. Lucy gasped as he pulled the towel off. He didn't stop his possession of her mouth as he disrobed and then guided her down to lay supine on her bed.**_

_**Natsu straddled her body, mouth moving from hers to trail wet kisses down her neck and suckle at her breasts. Lucy writhed from the sensation; every suck and tug of his mouth on her nipples sent a spasm to her lower abdomen, sent a flood of moisture to her core and tingles of electricity coursing through her veins.**_

_**He abandoned her breasts to muffle her panting cries with his kiss. Snaking a determined hand down Lucy's body, Natsu caressed her hip before trailing fingers over to her center, slowly pushing them inside. The delicious pressure snapped her eyes open and Lucy could see the possessive shine in her slayer's eyes. The urgency of his kiss multiplied as the pace his fingers set also increased.**_

_**Lucy grabbed Natsu's hips and lifted hers up as an offering. Unable to use words, she panted and whined in the back of her throat. Muscles trembling with effort, Natsu grinned into Lucy's desperate kiss, holding back from plunging into her as he wanted. Lucy begged him with her dark brown eyes, pleading for sweet release. She trailed her fingers up and down his washboard abs, repeatedly, memorizing the feel of the soft skin over taut muscles. Lucy vocalized her passion, "Mmmm...ugh," as she worked her arms around to scratch at his back.**_

_**Her legs trembled as Natsu guided his length towards its goal. All the deliberate, soft, sweet attention burst into a flurry of action. Lucy found herself grinding in slow motion against her lover as he thrust rapidly. Her nails scrabbled for purchase on his back and she called out, "Hmmn, yah..." as he continued to push and withdraw from her silken heat. Lucy felt her release trigger his, the walls of her sheath clenching and milking moans from the both of them.**_

Barely standing upright, Lucy blushed and withdrew her hand from between her thighs. She adjusted the water colder and rinsed the traces of her masturbatory session away. Lucy hurried with the rest of her routine, drying off and tying her hair back in her usual twin pony tails and dashed out of the washroom for the privacy of her room. She became flustered as she saw Natsu sitting on the window sill. Lucy couldn't help but think about last night's dream that started with Natsu climbing into her room from the window. Lucy sank down to sit on her bed.

The celestial mage had too many jumbled images in her head to express herself properly. Casting her thoughts furiously about, Lucy fell back on her reliable standby; accuse and attack. "What are you doing! Pervert!" She threw a pillow at her partner and he laughed and dodged easily.

"You were taking too long, I'll meet you at the guild." Natsu's amusement echoed in the room even after he was gone.

Sighing, Lucy pushed herself off the bed and dressed. _**I am in the biggest trouble of my life if I can't rein in my feelings for my partner.**_ Lips pressed together in a severe line, Lucy picked out a shirt and sweater vest to pair with walking shorts. After pulling on the blouse and sweater, Lucy reconsidered the shorts. _**Baby steps and small changes.**_ She shrugged and pulled out a short skirt. Finally ready, Lucy settled her key pouch on her hip and exited her apartment to meet up with her pink haired partner.

* * *

**A/N: I hope the lemon was acceptable. In this story, Lucy will be having LOTS of dream sex.**


	4. Couples Everywhere

Natsu was sitting at the bar, engrossed in talking to Mira when Lucy arrived at the guild. Happy was chatting with Charle, a pleading expression on his face as he held a ribbon wrapped fish. Levy and Gajeel were sitting side by side, the shy bookworm with her face in a large tome, and the taciturn slayer sneaking sly glances at her profile. Max was sweeping in the corner, his humming loud enough to disturb Elfman as he stared at Evergreen. Bickslow was leaning against the bar, standing next to Natsu and chatting animatedly with Lisanna. Freed sat beside Ever and split his attention between Mira and Laxus.

Lucy took a few more steps into the guild, her skin prickling with uneasiness. _**What is with me? I see couples everywhere. **_ She turned and saw Laxus staring at Mira with a lascivious look on his face. Lucy turned around and witnessed Juvia ogling Gray as he dropped his pants. Cana was hugging a beer barrel, pouring a healthy measure down her throat. Alzack and Bisca were holding hands and watching Asuka finish breakfast.

"Hey Luce!" Natsu shouted, "C'mere! Mira was just telling me about an awesome mission that's available!"

Nervously Lucy giggled and made her way over to her partner. "So, what's this job that's got you so excited?"

Polishing the mirror smooth counter, Mira grinned at Lucy. "Well, the job is posted by the spin-off magazine to Sorcerer's Weekly - Mage Monthly. It pays 300,000 jewel. They want to do some in-depth coverage of the after-math of winning the Grand Magic Games."

The blonde mage hopped up on a bar stool and bit her lip, "Why are they paying so much?"

Natsu interrupted, "Well, they're gonna do an interview and take pictures too! I thought you'd really like this job." He swivelled on his stool and grinned happily. "Part of the package is getting to stay in a water park, but the jewels are split 6 ways on account they want three couples."

"W-we're not a couple." Lucy stammered out, blushing a deep pink. She looked at her partner and darted her eyes away. "They want people like Alzack and Bisca."

"We're partners. Mira said that was good enough." He drummed his fingers on the bar top, "I don't know what the big deal is, you like stuff like that, and you need your rent paid, and we get to take a little vacation." Natsu crossed his arms and pouted, "This resort has the most amazing all you can eat buffet."

"Ah, I see what you're really after..." Lucy let her voice trail away as she thought about the slayer's bottomless stomach. "But that's only 50,000 per person - rent runs me 70,000 jewel."

"Then we can do the special spread as an extra!"

"The what-now?" Lucy held out her hand demanding the written request. She snatched it up and read it through once, twice, three times - shaking her head and frowning. "Do you understand what they mean by 'hot action shots'?"

"Um, doesn't it just mean stuff like running around in the sun? It's a resort after all. You're weird, Luce."

"Juvia and Gray-sama will do it! Gray-sama is hot!" Juvia had overheard enough of the mission to declare her intention to join. Both Natsu and Lucy turned away from the bar at the water mage's words. "We have partnered many times with Unison Raids, we should be chosen." She scurried forward to stand near Lucy. The blue haired beauty hugged herself and cooed, "Gray-sama owes Juvia a favour."

Irate, Gray strode over beside Juvia and nonsensically glared at Natsu. "I never asked you to start collecting my clothes for me! I can find them on my own!"

"Don't start something with me you have no hope of finishing, ice princess!" Natsu glared back at Gray. "You two are even less of a couple than me and Lucy!"

Worked up, wanting to compete with Natsu and just going against anything the dragon slayer happened to say, Gray gave in to temptation. He grabbed Juvia's hand and sneered at Natsu. "We'll out couple the hell out of you and Lucy."

Juvia stood red cheeked and frozen, then melted into a puddle.

Bursting out laughing, Natsu chortled loudly and had to hold his stomach. "That's gonna be hard to do carrying a bucket of water."

Mira could hardly contain herself from fan girling as she watched Natsu and Gray argue over competing as couples. The barmaid clutched her towel and continued watching with big eyes as the fire and ice mages regressed into eight year-olds and started a shoving match. Belatedly remembering Erza was in the building somewhere, Mira decided to calm the arguing boys down. "No need to fight each other! You can let the magazine decide who will be covered with the special spread."

Natsu who had been winding up to punch Gray, turned back to glance at Lucy. "You hear that? There's a special blanket too!"

His partner sighed and shook her head. "How can you forget already? The special spread refers to hot action shots. Pictures! Of a couple doing things a couple would do!"

"Whatever! We'll be chosen because we have the best working partnership." Natsu gave the ice mage one last shove and pushed him into the table where Gajeel and Levy sat. Grinning happily, Natsu slung his arm around Lucy's shoulder. "Stupid Popsicle and Juvia won't stand a chance against our solid friendship."

The blonde tried her best not to react to Natsu's warm, pleasingly muscled arm draped around her shoulder, but couldn't restrain the urge to rub her thighs together in hopes to ease her not-so-suddenly raging hormones.

"You okay?" Lucy pushed Natsu away as he peered into her eyes at close range. "You're acting weird, even for you. Your scent is -"

Panicked, the blonde fisted Natsu's vest, levered herself out of her stool and charged over to the table Levy still sat at, reading quietly. Three steps away, Gajeel and Gray were exchanging blows and insults.

"Levy!" Lucy implored, "You've got to join this mission Natsu's picked out for us." The blonde kept her back to her partner and tried to convey her misgivings without alerting Natsu. Lucy widened her eyes and nodded her head at Levy, "I think it would be great if you helped out with this couples photo spread and interview for Mage Monthly. We should go and talk about it, _now_."

"Alright, let's go to the records room." Levy set her book down with a slap. "It's quieter there and doesn't have idiots fighting."

About to punch Gray in the gut, Gajeel stopped fighting and turned to face Levy, "He started it! That bastard spilled your coffee!"

Feeling a little naughty, Lucy started walking to the basement and tossed over her shoulder, "Natsu pushed Gray into your table in the first place." Both Levy and Lucy giggled as Natsu was embroiled in the free-for-all.

Downstairs in the records room, Levy sat down and watched Lucy pace back and forth. "I haven't seen you so worked up over a mission before. What gives?"

"It's embarrassing, you've got to keep this a secret." The blonde reached out and toyed with a slim volume on the bookshelf in front of her, keeping her face turned away from her friend. "I've been having a problem, maybe a few problems."

"With what?"

Dropping her hand from the tome, Lucy turned to face Levy and hugged herself. "I can't trust myself with Natsu anymore."

"Did he do something?!" Levy yelped, "I can't believe it!"

Hanging her head down, the other girl responded passionately, "He hasn't! The problem is me and my hormones! It's like my body is out of control when I sleep. I can't rest properly if I don't have him nearby."

Levy perched forward and allowed a teasing tone into her voice, "I always knew something would come of you two sleeping together."

Unable to stand still, Lucy pivoted and began pacing anew. Some of her nervous energy was dissipated with her confession to Levy, but thinking about Natsu churned up more gut wrenching feelings. "We just sleep!" A few more quick steps brought her to the corner of the room, leaning her head against the wall, Lucy continued her confession. "Eh, he's definitely sleeping; I've been having...having...sex dreams about Natsu."

Eyes wide, the bluenette gasped. "That's what's turned your writing so spicy! I thought you were getting some for real!" She bounced out of her chair and spun Lucy around, "Tell Dr. Levy more!"

Lucy pursed her lips and nodded slowly, a sickly grin on her face. "Funny you should say that, I've been seeking professional help. I have a standing doctor's appointment once a week."

Concern softened Levy's voice, "It can't be that bad. So what if you have questionable dreams about Natsu? He romps around with his chest and abs half covered. You're young and so is he, big deal."

"These dreams are really, really realistic." Lucy snorted at her own words, "Really! And now he wants to do this mission for Mage Monthly, give an interview and take pictures of us doing couple activities!"

"Maybe you shouldn't fight against it, do it and work it out of your system." Levy smiled reassuringly at her friend.

Blushing furiously, Lucy opened her mouth to reply and nothing came out. Working her throat a few times, she croaked, "I can't believe you're suggesting I...I... do _that_ with Natsu!"

"Interesting where your mind goes to Lucy! But what I meant was let the magazine take pictures of you and Natsu. But why would you need my help?"

"They want three couples; as it stands me and Natsu were the first to sign up, Juvia has Gray semi-coerced and there's room for you and Gajeel."

A sly smile wreathed Levy's face. "If I know anything about slayers, then sheer competitiveness will drive Gajeel to join this mission. He'll _have_ to ask me."

Feeling a little drained, Lucy dragged herself over to a chair and held out the mission paper. "Read this, Natsu wants to do the special extra spread."

Levy hooted until tears ran down her cheeks, "Sorry Lucy! But he has no idea what sort of pictures they want, does he?" A considering look crossed her face. "Count me and Gajeel in! I want a shot at the special spread."

"Good, I will need you to help me control myself." Lucy sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Natsu can't know how much I want him. It could ruin our friendship."

"Or make it better than ever." Levy patted the blonde's shoulder. "Let's go back upstairs and sign off on this mission to make it official."


	5. Train, Research, Practice

Upstairs in the Fairy Tail Guild, the fighting had worked itself out rather rapidly with the sudden appearance of Erza. Gray and Natsu had had their hands around each other's throats, working on choking each other. Spying the equip mage had them suddenly hugging with large cheesy grins. She passed and they shoved each other away. Gray stumbled into the newly reformed Juvia, knocking her over and introducing his naked chest to her face.

Puzzled as to why he wasn't laying in a lake of Juvia water; Gray flushed, "What gives?"

Little hearts in her eyes, Juvia responded. "If I pass out, how can I enjoy this? If I don't eat my meat, how can I have any pudding? I can't have any pudding if I don't eat my meat." She giggled softly, her eyes slightly unfocused. Gray stood and pulled her upright. "Juvia is willing to train to withstand your charms, then Juvia and Gray will be victorious over Natsu and Love Rival for the special spread!" The water mage hugged herself and wailed, "Gray must train Juvia right now!"

Gray considered Juvia's demand and slowly nodded. "I totally want to beat the Flaming Idiot out of the special spread. Anything he can do, I can do better."

"Juvia agrees!"

His competitive nature put his brain in a choke-hold and Gray smirked at the water mage. "Let's get out of here and train." He spun on his heel and jogged out of the guild, followed closely by his personal fangirl.

Frowning, Gajeel stepped closer to Natsu. "You and Bunny girl owe Shrimp a coffee."

"How do you figure that?" The pink haired young man scratched his stomach carelessly and squinted at the pierced slayer. "Lucy didn't do anything wrong."

Glaring triumphantly, Gajeel crossed his arms. "So you admit full responsibility! It's settled, me'n'Shrimp will tag along as the third set of partners to this mission."

Mira clapped her hands and smiled with barely leashed match-making joy. "I'm so glad that's settled! You have the rest of today and tomorrow to practice being couples before reporting to the resort for your interviews and photo sessions!"

Lucy and Levy caught the end of Mira's speech. Looking concerned, Levy spoke up. "What's settled?"

Gajeel had a look of desperation painted about his face. "Lookit Shrimp, as the elder slayer between me'n Salamander, I should go on this mission to make sure he doesn't burn it down. And you're Bunny Girl's best friend - yer gonna want to help her. Simple!" He waved his arms in the air, "So we can do this together, partners for a mission." Gajeel felt a small paw thump him on the back of the head.

Lily floated around to face him and hissed in his ear, "A woman wants to be asked, not told!" Gajeel hung his head down and pouted.

Levy sighed, "Close enough. I was planning on helping Lucy anyway." She shrugged and crooked her finger at Gajeel. "We're going to the library for some research. Seems like if you can't ask, then neither do I." She started walking away, then stopped as she realized he wasn't following. Hands on hips, she turned and glared. "C'mon!"

Lily gave his partner a little push, "Get going!" Gajeel flushed and dashed after Levy.

Natsu started sniggering, but cut off abruptly when Lucy marched over and yanked on an ear. "Ow! What's that for?!"

"Don't get me started!" Lucy wasn't as angry as she pretended, any which way Levy was included worked for her. The celestial mage was only too happy to have an excuse to lay hands on her slayer, for good or ill.

"We gotta get started on practicing coupling." Natsu smiled innocently.

"W-what?!" Without consciously deciding, the blonde slugged her partner.

Natsu winced and rubbed the spot on his arm Lucy has just punched. "You wanna not shriek in my ear? We gotta practice for the mission. I'm not coming in second to Stripper or Metal Freak. Juvia said she's gonna train, Levy's researching, we gotta practice!"

Lucy took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She looked into Natsu's open and guileless face; he grinned, his competitive nature taking hold.

Mira leaned over the bar and smiled winsomely. "I know just the thing to help you practise," she giggled, "coupling. What a cute way to put it!"

"Really?" Natsu spun and dragged Lucy over to the bar. "What do we gotta do?"

Lucy waited anxiously. I can do this, no matter what foolishness Mira spouts, I will control my actions. I will not play Lucy wander hands. I will not fantasize about ripping off his vest. I will not hold his hand and 'accidently' make him rub my breast. I will not stick my tongue in his mouth...unless there's a really good reason. Like if it's a day ending in 'y'. Lucy slowly became aware she was rocking back and forth, humming and drooling ever so slightly from the corner of her mouth.

The aura radiating from Mira made the hairs on Lucy's arms bristle. She surreptitiously wiped away the drool, glancing between the white haired demon and her sweetly naive partner. Slowly she sat down on a barstool and thunked her head down on the bar counter.

The pink haired slayer patted Lucy gently on her shoulder, "You smell funny again. Are you okay?"

Mira smiled; a fearsome baring of most of her teeth. "How badly do you want to win the special spread and out-couple Gruvia and Gajevy?"

Natsu wrinkled his forehead, "Who are you talking about?"

"Sorry, those are just codenames for your competitors." Mira dimpled and tilted her head slightly, "You and Lucy have a codename too! It's adorable! Nalu!"

"I guess that's kinda cool. But that won't help us couple, will it?"

Lucy groaned, pushing her head off the counter and carefully upright. "Please Natsu, we don't need any practice. I like how we are together. There's nothing I would change about us being partners."

"And we're great partners, but we have to learn to couple!"

"Arrgghh! Can you stop using that phrase?"

"Why?"

"Ugh! Just trust me and don't!"

Mira watched Lucy turn red and Natsu look even more adorably bewildered. Deciding to grab the reins of destiny once more, the she-demon pounded the largest tankard from behind the bar onto the counter. "Quit your bickering. Natsu, you will escort Lucy to her apartment and you will each write down without discussing with each other, three things you consider essential for a relationship. You will exchange lists and try to give the other person what they ask for."

As the blonde opened her mouth to argue, Mira brightened her smile with an impossible amount of sharp teeth. "Furthermore, you will stay together until it's time to leave for the train station. You need to maximize your couple quotient." Elbows on the bar, Mira leaned forward. "I'll make it my business to know if you don't follow my instructions. No one ever disappoints me twice."

Both mages gulped and nodded; Lucy with resignation and Natsu with his confidence returning. "Thanks Mira! Me and Luce are gonna out-couple everybody!"

In the far back corner of the guild, Elfman shouted, "That's a man!" An answering 'thwap' was heard as Evergreen gave her opinion via her plumed fan. The middle Strauss sibling shuddered mildly from the abuse and sighed contentedly.

"Now that's settled, run along you two." Mira waved good-bye to Natsu and Lucy. Content with her management of her guild mates, she turned to Happy and crooked her finger. "Standard rates?"

He flew closer and landed on the bar. "Yup. Three fishes a day plus expenses!"

"Of course! Be sure to give them privacy when they need it."

"How am I gonna know?"

"Oh, you'll know." Mira winked and reached under the counter, flipping a mackerel at the exceed. "Do a good job and there'll be plenty more fish in your future."

Hugging his fish to his chest, Happy sped out of the guild and towards Lucy's apartment.


	6. The Lists

Natsu drummed his fingers as he sat at Lucy's desk, his piece of paper clean and untouched. He leaned back and stretched his arms. "Lucy! I don't know what to write."

Sitting on her couch, the celestial mage grumbled, "You heard Mira the same as me, no helping each other. I'm having my own troubles." Lucy sighed, staring at her paper which was crammed full of wishes; sex, hand-holding, erotic massage, weekly date night, kisses, discussions, sex... _**I suppose if I just put everything on my list, I can pick out the three most innocent choices. Oh, I wrote down 'sex' twice, well, it **_**is**_** important.**_

"Luce!"

"What?!"

"I need your help!"

Flipping her paper over, Lucy stood up and walked over to Natsu. "Okay. I won't suggest anything to write down, but try thinking about _**if**_ you had a special person in your life you always wanted to be with, what would you want to do with them, or for them, how would you treat them?"

Natsu grinned, "Oh, Mira saying 'relationship' made it harder than it had to be. I think I understand now. Thanks, Luce!" He grabbed up the pencil and scrawled a large '1' on his sheet. He shielded his paper from Lucy with his arm. "You better work on your own list."

Irate, Lucy grimaced, "You asked me for my help, I wasn't going to steal from your ideas."

"Go sit back down, you're making me nervous." Natsu watched his partner tread heavily back to the couch and plop down. Satisfied she was occupied with her own list, he closed his eyes to aid his concentration. _**The person I always want to be with is Lucy. I do lots of stuff with her; eat, sleep, play... I treat her like nakama, my best friend... I want her to be happy, to be the weirdo she always is... **_

Lucy added 'sex' a third time to her list and giggled, sticking out her tongue at Natsu when he muttered 'weirdo' in response. Deciding to get serious, Lucy crossed out most of her favourite ideas which included 'showering together', 'foot rubs', 'front rubs' and 'bum rubs'. Sighing, she rubbed her forehead. _**Why is it so hard to decide? I don't want to change Natsu's fundamental nature. I don't feel right about forcing him to do things for me - but - the things he could do to me...**_

* * *

Juvia's eyes shined with triumph as she remained solid, resisting the knee-jerk reaction of going fluid as Gray held her hand and smiled amiably. "Good work Juvia."

"Juvia is enjoying training with Gray-sama!" She felt her lips stretch in a wide grin; Gray's smile dimmed as hers grew. The water mage averted her eyes and started counting in her head. Two minutes of counting settled her nerves and she removed her hand from his grasp. "Juvia has had enough for today."

Gray slowly nodded, "Sure. I'm kinda impressed, you only melted five times."

"Juvia has tried her hardest for Gray-sama."

"Ah, are you in a hurry to rush home?"

"Does Gray-sama wish for help finding his pants?" Juvia cocked her head to one side and gave a hesitant smile. "Juvia thought perhaps it was part of the training. We have not walked far from the bench where we practised sitting close to one another." Juvia lowered her eyes and spoke softer, "Juvia would remember if you had been sitting without... pants." Her cheeks became streaked with pink. _**Juvia would have noticed that, and Gray-sama would have noticed Juvia melting into a puddle.**_

Gray ruffled his hair with one hand and tugged at his necklace with the other. "That's not what... ah, hell - let's continue training and have dinner together."

A tidal wave of joy threatened to melt the water mage's form. Juvia clenched her hands and kept herself solid. She looked at the ice mage, and gave a careful nod with a tiny smile, "Juvia accepts Gray-sama's invitation."

"Let's back track through the park, we're sure to come across my clothes." Gray turned and strode ahead of Juvia, his buttocks flexing in a completely captivating way. Juvia pulled her eyes away from the enticing sight using an incredible amount of will power, dashed over to his freshly shed boxers and picked them up. She scurried after the totally nude mage (well, except for his ever present necklace, which frankly didn't cover anything up) intent on handing him his underwear.

Twenty feet away from the park bench, Gray found his pants and shimmied into them. _**Maybe I forgot to wear boxers today, or I lost them earlier...but how would that work?**_ Deciding not to worry overmuch about the paradox of losing his underwear from beneath his pants; Gray turned left on the path, heading toward the main entrance/exit of the Sakura park.

Juvia was delighted to accompany Gray, excited and at the same time a wee bit terrified. _**What if Gray-sama is disgusted by how I eat? What if he sees his underwear in my purse? How will I explain that? What if Love Rival shows up?**_ She spied Gray's shoes but no socks on top of a landscape boulder.

Smiling, she presented his footwear to him. Gray paused buttoning his shirt at the three quarter mark. "Thanks, now that I'm decent, we can get some food. What would you like?"

"Juvia wants whatever Gray-sama wants." _**Juvia would like if Gray-sama wanted Juvia.**_

* * *

Levy walked, stretching her stride as much as she dared; trying to keep ahead of the much taller and longer-legged slayer. She kept her arms pumping and wriggled her whole body in an effort to move quickly. Gajeel was mesmerized by Levy's bouncing gait. He watched her hips sway back and forth, unaware his whole head was moving in tandem with her curvy backside.

The perky bluenette bounced up the steps of the library, shoved the door open and turned back to bestow an uncertain grin on the iron dragon slayer. "I will try to make it quick in here, but I have to warn you - I love to browse."

"We ain't stayin' here to work on this couple research?" Gajeel shrugged, "Well, whatever. Let's get this over with." He smirked and Levy frowned. The slayer followed the petite girl, impressed that she was stomping along in anger, yet quiet - quite the feat.

Levy marched along to the self-help aisle of books and started scanning for books on relationships. Gajeel followed along, dragging his feet and slouching - a distinct lack of enthusiasm on his metal studded face. Totally absorbed into her search, Levy traced her finger down the spines of several tomes. Her lips moved slightly as she read out the titles and mumbled semi-audible criticisms or endorsements.

Seemingly at random, the petite mage selected one of the books and thrust it at Gajeel. "Hold that one, will you?" Not waiting for an answer, she turned back and kept perusing the choices. She picked out three more books in short order and led Gajeel over to a set of comfortable reading chairs.

Fumbling in her satchel, Levy dug for her speed reading glasses. Gajeel sat with the books on his lap and merely stared at Levy while she was preoccupied with searching for her spectacles. She was hunched over slightly, twisted in an effort to reach into her bag and not allow the strap to slide off her shoulder. One hip was outthrust and she began to take little steps in a tiny circle, endeavouring to grab the eyeglasses.

First, one corner of Gajeel's mouth tugged up, then the other. His eyes crinkled and he let out a muffled snort, and then full bodied chuckles. Gajeel's face flooded with colour as several patrons of the library turned and gave disapproving looks and a few made 'shhh-ing' hisses and gestures.

Levy stood still as soon as she realized her erstwhile partner was laughing at her. Her pink cheeks rivalled his for shade, but she was unsure if she was more angry or embarrassed. Lips set tight in a pinched line, Levy dropped into the other chair and easily withdrew the reading glasses from the depths of her satchel. Jamming them on her face, she imperiously held out an open hand. "First one," Levy spoke carefully; trying to rein in her anger and shame, "please."

The blue haired girl made brief eye contact with Gajeel. Seeing his open amusement stoked her irritation, but her natural inclination to avoid confrontation had made a reappearance. She felt her lips twitch in a tiny smile.

Almost negligently, the slayer handed over the top book as requested and sat back in his chair and watched Levy become the focused solid script mage in battle mode. _**She's kinda intimidating like this, so determined and forceful...**_

The gale-force glasses allowed Levy to read each book rapidly, so within a scant half-hour, she was forming a plan to launch her and her partner to 'couple-hood' stardom. Gajeel scoffed at Levy's offer to borrow the glasses and read the information for himself, claiming that his half of the mock relationship would trust her half. This admission caused Levy's cheeks to bloom red once again, but happily so. Such a compliment flustered her so much she bounced out of her seat and sped off for the exit, forgetting her desire to browse for leisure books to read. Gajeel followed swiftly behind, bemused and wondering what tactics Levy would decide on using to prevail over the other two couples.

* * *

Happy flew into Lucy's bedroom and quietly landed at the door, pushing it open only slightly and spied on his two favourite humans. Lucy was sitting on the couch and looking even weirder than usual with a creepy grin on her face as she read and crossed off words on a scrap of paper. Happy clapped a paw over his smirk and peered at Natsu. The slayer was sitting hunched over at Lucy's desk and was either meditating or asleep. He was as still as the exceed had ever seen him, which was pretty unusual. Natsu had tremendous reserves of energy and was a person suited to motion, not built to sit statue-like.

Holding the pen in an awkward grasp, Natsu penned out his first desire - 'eating together, cooking for me'. The second and third essential items in a relationship became 'sleeping together' and 'playing games I like'. He released the writing utensil and spun around to watch his best friend.

Lucy startled at the noise the pen made when it dropped and locked eyes with Natsu. She blushed and hurriedly pulled her attention to her paper. "Um, can you bring me a fresh sheet of paper?"

She accepted the paper and shooed Natsu away so he wouldn't see the naughty choices on her first list. Nervous and uncertain, Lucy wrote down her three most benign desires. With a slightly shaky hand, she penned 'hand holding', 'honest communication' and 'commitment'. _**Oh, man! It feels like my stomach is full of tiny fighting butterflies - did I pick adequately? Will this be too hard? Should I cross out 'hand holding' and put down 'bed breaking sex'? This chance may never come around again in this lifetime.**_

Shoving her other list into her pocket, Lucy cleared her throat. "Okay, I'm done, let's exchange lists."


	7. Beginning to Learn to Couple

Juvia sat down in the booth and put both of her hands in her lap, lacing her fingers together and gripping tightly. She watched the waitress smile prettily at Gray without the slightest trace of jealousy on her face. Inside, she was a seething cauldron of self-hate and doubt. _**Juvia is strong, Juvia will NOT lunge across the table and rip out new Love Rival's hair. Juvia will plot her demise in a logical manner and figure where she will dispose of the body first.**_

Gray settled into the opposite side of the booth and spared a glance for his companion. _**Wow, Juvia is so impassive right now, even with that waitress flirting with me so strongly, she's already benefitting from the training we've done! **_He accepted the menu and flipped it open, not witnessing Juvia stare at the other woman with dead eyes as she took hold of her own menu.

The water mage didn't allow a ripple of dismay to display on her face, she gave a polite nod to the server and dismissed her from her attention. With another smile for Gray, the waitress announced she'd be back soon for their orders.

Juvia commenced counting as an aid to reducing her desire to garrotte the waitress with her own hair. Smiling faintly at the calming thought, she perused the food list and began to discuss the offerings with Gray.

_**Making small talk with Juvia has never been easier.**_ Gray relaxed, feeling confident the water mage would dial down her fan girl ways. "Order whatever you like, it's my treat. If we keep training, we'll for sure beat out Flame Brain for the special spread."

"Juvia would like to keep this on a professional level. Gray-sama does not have to reward Juvia."

A bit dumbfounded, Gray nodded. "Sure, I guess. I didn't really give you too much of a choice. There's not really a lot of time to train in, either. I can't wait to rub Natsu's face in defeat." Gray smirked, "He doesn't even know what kind of hot action shots that magazine is sure to want."

Abruptly, Juvia descended into a comforting fantasy. In it, she was being chased on a beach by an ardent Gray. Laughing they ran into the surf and she squealed as he lunged and captured her. He lifted her out of the water and slung her over his shoulder, one hand firmly pressing into her butt and the other tapping her shoulder. Tapping her shoulder? How could that be possible? Juvia opened her eyes and held in a sigh.

Gray let his hand drop to the table, getting Juvia's attention never used to be this hard. "You know what you want?"

"Gray-sama. I mean, yes, Juvia knows what she wants." She looked up and smiled.

"Hon, your friend meant what you want to order."

Juvia recollected where they were, "Ah, Juvia will have the blue plate special, dressing on the side." She passed the menu back to the server, keeping her eyes lowered. A little embarrassed to have slipped into her own world while Gray was paying her attention, Juvia swore to herself to live in the moment.

"So, in the interest of training... you want to hold hands?" Gray was sure Juvia would be only too happy to do so.

The blue haired girl nodded slowly. "Juvia agrees to this training." She extended a pale soft hand and Gray enclosed it in his own larger, rougher hand.

Vaguely discomfited, the ice mage tightened his grip on Juvia. "What else should we do for training?"

"Juvia must practise staying solid. Gray-sama must try to melt Juvia." Blushing hotly, she turned her face away and began counting again. A semi comfortable silence descended on the table. Each mage was lost in thought. Juvia was counting her way to a hundred and Gray was wondering how far he could go without sending Juvia into fan girl heaven.

* * *

"Shrimp, where are we going?" Gajeel had been silent the first five blocks, but now he was confused at the 's' pattern their headlong flight had taken. "What's with the right, left, right turns? Do you even know where we're going?"

Levy turned and looked up into the slayer's face, "Just trying out a theory. I wanted to know how long I could lead you around before you started complaining." She grabbed his hand and tugged him towards a trendy cafe. "Don't pout, I seem to recall you promised to trust me. We need to work together to win the special spread, or did you want to give up and let Natsu win this without a fight?" Snickering internally, Levy kept winding Gajeel up. She released his hand and pursed her lips, "I suppose you already realize he's more of a boyfriend type than you yourself seem to be. I guess it can't be helped."

"Hey!" Gajeel frowned, his metal studded brows almost one straight line. "I can be the boyfriend type, just give me a chance!"

"All right then," Levy gestured to the cafe. "Let's say this is a date; I'm your girlfriend and you're my boyfriend. Dazzle me." She said the last sentence flatly, her arms crossed. _**Here goes nothing! Dragon slayers are competitive, so thrusting a challenge on Gajeel will compel him to try his hardest. And saying Natsu would make a better boyfriend is sure to rub extra salt in the wound. The special spread is as good as mine!**_

Gajeel was stunned. _**Natsu, a better boyfriend than me? Hah! He'll burn everything down around Bunny Girl's ears! I will freaking amaze Levy.**_ He made an effort to relax his furrowed brow and offered his arm to Levy, "Would you care to join me at this cafe?"

She nodded and accepted his escort into the small eatery. She felt a tiny bit bad for baiting him, but really, it was for the greater good - _her_ greater good. After all, faint heart never won (in this case) a hard muscled mountain of a man.

"Where would you like to sit?" He made an effort to lighten his growling voice, holding her chair out and gently pushing it in as she sat. Gajeel sat down opposite Levy and gave her an uncertain smile.

Levy was spinning cartwheels on the inside, this was going splendidly! Forcing her face to remain impassive, she accepted a menu from the waiter. As if they ate together all the time, Levy and Gajeel agreed to share a cake set and a pot of tea. The server hurried off to place their order and the two mages were alone.

Feeling a little devilish, Levy propped her elbows on the table and leaned forward to stare at her 'boyfriend'. She was silent, mentally willing him to start a conversation.

Reacting to Levy's quiet, Gajeel opened his mouth to say something, anything to fill the gaping hole of silence. "So...how's that weather?"

She couldn't help it, Levy burst out laughing. She giggled until her stomach hurt, and only the hurt in his deep red eyes reined in her amusement. "Sorry, but the weather? Have we met? Gosh, there's so many things we could discuss!"

"Shrimp, I'm trying my best!"

"Gajeel, perhaps a sweeter nickname would convince me you were truly trying your best. I don't find 'Shrimp' a very romantic moniker." Levy patted the hand he had laying on the table. "You could go with something generic like 'honey' or 'dear' - or something revolutionary like using my actual name."

Forgetting he was trying to prove his excellence as a boyfriend, Gajeel scowled. "What's wrong with me calling you Shrimp?"

"Don't get me started."

* * *

Lucy held Natsu's list in her hand, anticipation was making her mouth dry. She read his demands, neither shocked nor amazed. _**Pretty tame - eat together and cook for him, sleep together, play games he likes. I can handle that no problem - hell's bells! I already do.**_ She was nervous to see how he would react to seeing her list.

Natsu scanned the paper Lucy handed him. _**Looks pretty easy, only a little weird. Hand holding, honest communication and commitment. We've been partners for over two years, if that isn't commitment, I don't know what is. We talk all the time, the only thing we don't do a lot of is the hand holding - but what ever the weirdo wants I guess.**_ Grinning his wide smile, Natsu tossed the list and grabbed Lucy's hand.

"What're you doing?!" The blonde pulled back on her hand. Natsu refused to let go. "What the hell!" She glared at the slayer.

"Just following orders, sheesh! You're no good at this coupling stuff Luce! Why'd you write down hand holding if you didn't actually want to?" He stepped closer and inhaled deeply. "You're smelling weird again."

Lucy yanked desperately on her hand, her soft brown eyes panicked. "I don't know what you're talking about! Let go!"

Shaking his head, Natsu replied, "Nuh-uh! Mira's orders!" He moved another step closer and Lucy ducked away. She only got so far before Natsu's superior strength and grip had her pulled back. Grinning, he stuck his face closer and closer to hers. "What are you going to cook for me first?"

Feeling her appetites being stirred up having her hand in his, Lucy gave a sickly grin to her partner. "I don't know, but I'm gonna need my hand back to cook."

Happy decided then to make his grand appearance, flying in nonchalantly and butting into the conversation. "Cook fish!"

Natsu smiled at his exceed partner, "Happy, Lucy has to do what I want!" He turned back to Lucy and addressed her, "Well, I suppose I can't hold your hand all the time." Without further discussion he let go and Lucy stumbled back a pace. "After you feed me we should play a game and then sleep together."

"Anything else?" Lucy glared at her partner, her hands on her hips. "Fair is fair, we'll do what you want. But before we sleep, you'll have to fulfill your side of the bargain."

Happy settled on the coffee table and watched his humans bicker.

"Not a problem Luce! I'll give you no lies and commit with you too. Let me know when you want me to hold your hand again."

Unable to verbalize a response, Lucy felt a flush stain her cheeks and escaped into the kitchen. She banged pots and pans around, trying to calm her racing heart. With a barely audible sigh, she began preparing some food.

"Natsu, when did Lucy become your slave?"

"Happy, Lucy isn't my slave! We're just learning to couple - that's all!" Natsu walked over to the couch and plopped down. He settled into the deep cushions and gave an appreciative sniff. "I'm really beginning to like this new scent Lucy has."


	8. Perceptions

_**In reply to my Guest's review: I snuck a little bit of ab action in here, I will try to give the next chapter more.**_

_**Soul Raider 116: Working in 'Kitten' worked, lol! Thanks for the suggestion**_

_**obsessedwithnalu: Thanks for your continued reviews! **_

* * *

Eyes big and bright, Happy smirked, "Couples liiiiiiiiiiiiiike each other!"

"Well, duh!" Natsu shrugged, "Even I know that! Why else would they stay together? I don't hang around people I don't like. It's the same thing that drives you to keep trying to give Charle fish."

Astounded at Natsu's perception; Happy, who had his mouth open ready to deliver another taunt, closed it with a snap. He pouted and crossed his arms. "Wah! Lucy! Natsu is..." Happy scrunched up his face and pondered his choices, "Natsu is being mean!"

Lucy poked her head around the corner and glared at the exceed, "I highly doubt it, but I'm sure you did something to deserve it, if in fact Natsu _was_ mean to you." Having delivered her set-down, the blonde stepped back into the kitchen.

With a sly look on his face, Happy floated in front of Natsu. "What else are you gonna do to learn coupling?"

"All I gotta do is hold Lucy's hand, talk to her and give her commitment. I got the better part of the deal, she's gotta cook for me, play games with me and let me sleep with her." Natsu slouched on the couch, and grinned, "I bet I can get her to read me stories too."

Lucy came back out of the kitchen as Natsu boasted. She glared at the pink haired man-child, "If I do extra coupling, so will you." Lucy went beet red as her brain ticked over the words she'd just used. "Anyways, I came out to tell you since we took so long writing our lists, this meal is an early dinner."

"Okay," Natsu placidly answered. "I'll agree to the extra coupling, what do you want from me? Whatever you want."

Happy grinned at Lucy. She was getting even redder, the exceed expected to see steam burst from her ears at any second. "Why don't you pick another item from your first list?" The exceed giggled and clapped his paws.

Normally, Lucy being extremely intelligent would've asked Happy how he knew about her first list. The thoughts of extra coupling were causing an endless loop in her brain where she was licking syrup off of Natsu's abs. "Uh, gimme a few minutes to think about that - I gotta check on the food." She scurried off not so much to make sure the food was okay, but needing the solace of the kitchen to return her heartbeat to normal...and finish her fantasy, then scrub all lustful thoughts from her brain.

* * *

There was only one regrettable incident at the restaurant. Juvia had managed to keep her form solid while the ice mage held her hand for most of the meal and even as Gray sat eating dessert sans shirt. It was his innocent attempt at sharing when she admitted she'd never tried anything like candied violets with which his sweet had been decorated. With a smile he plucked one up with his fingers and held it out to her mouth. Realizing he was about to feed her made her heart race and she swooned into her liquid state.

Juvia came to as the bill was set down in front of Gray. "Juvia is very sorry, Juvia needs to work on staying solid."

The waitress pushed the paper to Gray, "I don't have that problem, I wrote down my number for you. Call anytime."

Without answering the server, he flipped over the bill and checked out the amount. Gray pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and threw enough jewels on the table to cover the bill and a small tip. Juvia blanked her features almost immediately, but Gray saw the dispirited look on her face. Needing to address this, Gray faced the flirty woman. "Excuse me, but that wasn't cool. We're out on a date and I don't appreciate you making Juvia feel bad."

The waitress stood mortified. Stony-eyed, Gray turned away. He had already dismissed the server from his attention. The woman lifted her nose in the air and departed. Gray pulled on his coat and tossed his shirt over an arm. The water mage sat clutching her purse tightly, as pale and silent as a porcelain doll. Gray held out his hand to Juvia. Slowly, she reached out; a genuine smile brightening her countenance.

"Gray-sama didn't have to say that. Juvia knows this is training."

"That doesn't matter, she made you feel bad. You're nakama - I'm going to at least try to protect my guild mates." Gray left the money and bill on the table without a backwards glance. Placing a hand low on Juvia's back, he ushered her out of the restaurant and out into the early evening air. "Let's find something to do as friends."

* * *

"How about Midge?"

Levy rolled her eyes.

"Dolly? Cupcake? Dumpling? Cuddle Bug? Sheesh woman, what's wrong with these?"

Regretfully sighing, Levy shook her head. "It's one of those things, if I have to explain it, then it becomes even worse. And if you must know, it still sounds like you're making fun of my lack of height." She poured herself more tea and added plenty of milk, stirring the brew with her cake fork after licking it clean.

Gajeel smiled and chuckled. "How about Kitten?! You're like a cat, but the size of a kitten. Is tea flavoured milk what all the kittens are drinking?"

Levy blushed, her eyes trained on her own hands cradling her cup. She took a sip and placed her cup down in its saucer, then laid her hands flat on the table. Levy straightened her shoulders and gave Gajeel her best glare. "You feel free to call me that and I'll return the favour, Candy Buns."

Blanching and convulsively tightening his grip on his cup of tea, Gajeel gave Levy a sickly grin. "How about I make it up to you and take you somewhere you wanna go?"

"Good idea," Levy looked at the slayer from under hooded eyes. "I think you're progressing as a potential boyfriend. Theoretically speaking, of course." The short bluenette placed both elbows on the bistro table and rested her chin in her palms. "There is an art exhibit at the Magnolia Museum I've been meaning to go and see."

"Aww - shi-" Gajeel cut himself off and forced himself to continue calmly, as if he'd intended to change what he was saying. "Sh-should we go for a real meal before or after we," he face twisted slightly as he spit out the next words, "enjoy the museum?"

"What a charming idea! Museum first, then dinner." Levy looked expectantly at her guild mate. "I'd like to go home to the dorm to change first."

"Go ahead." Gajeel slurped another mouthful of tea. His dragon slayer senses went on high alert as he registered Levy was glaring again. His mind racing, he blurted, "I mean, I'll escort you to the dorm, but you don't need to change! You look okay."

Slightly mollified, Levy clenched her eyes shut. "Thank you, Gajeel. What a sincere compliment, but I'd like to wear something suitable for evening."

She missed his look of confusion and the way his eyes lingered on the rising hem of her dress; the quick wetting of his lips and hungry but-not-for-food look on his face. Gajeel grunted and tried to dig his way out of the hole. "I mean you always look nice! You ain't got to change - you look good the way you are!"

"The way I am? You flatter me too much." Levy straightened up and pushed herself back from the table. She rose and only made it one step before his large hand shot out and trapped her wrist.

"Dammit woman, I'm tryin' to be sincere - I'm takin' your instructions to heart. You said to dazzle you, but that ain't me. I am hard and blunt and honest. When I say you look good, I mean it." Gajeel released his grip on Levy. "Are you ditching me now?"

"No. We've drunk two pots of tea. I need to use the facilities."

The slayer watched Levy sashay away. He cursed his stubbornness at refusing to read the relationship books when he had the chance. Gajeel scowled and rubbed his forehead. _**Shrimp's losing interest in me, I gotta step up my game.**_

"Psssst!" Lily whisper-shouted across the room, "Oi!"

"What?" Gajeel beckoned his exceed over. "You here to humiliate me? I suck at this couple stuff."

"I'm your friend, I'm here to give you advice." Lily hopped up on the table and flicked Gajeel solidly on the forehead. The black cat smirked to see some fire return to his slayer's eyes. "I couldn't help but overhear seeing as I was eavesdropping. Give Levy a real compliment. Tell her something you like about her character. Insist on holding her hand on the walk to her place, when she asks if she took too long to change, say 'no' and mean it."

"You can't know she'll ask that."

Giving his partner a pitying look, Lily shook his head. "Levy is considerate, she'll worry if she's imposing on anyone's good nature. She'll ask." Lily crossed his arms and suddenly smiled. "You do have a few redeeming qualities. I'm gonna pick up some groceries - you are gonna cook for her. I'll even clean up your room in case you get lucky."

Faster than the embarrassed dragon slayer could react, Lily flew up and out of reach. He waved and laughed as he exited the cafe. Gajeel sat and thought about Lily's advice. Gradually his blush receded and he promised himself to try his best.

Levy returned to their table, before she could seat herself, Gajeel bolted out of his chair and assisted her. "Allow me to help you." He waited until she was settled and returned to his own seat.

"Thanks!" Levy smiled, "I picked the museum, so I'll let you figure out where to go for dinner." She sat on the edge of her chair and gave Gajeel her full attention.

Shifting a bit in his seat, Gajeel gave her a weak smile. "I have an excellent place in mind, kinda small, but super exclusive."

"Intriguing, what kind of cuisine does it serve?"

"Oh, the menu changes all the time. There's bound to be something you like - the chef takes requests."

"Well, let's get going, shall we?" Levy popped out of her chair and paused as Gajeel threw a pile of jewels on the table.

Red raced across his cheek bones and rose to his spiky black hair as he held out his hand. Gracefully, Levy placed her hand in his and they walked out of the cafe together.

* * *

"Gray-sama! Juvia loves this one!"

Gray took the proffered box and read the summary on the back of it. "Sounds funny, you've already seen this though, sure you want this for your pick?"

He handed it back to the water mage and she nodded; artlessly smiling, her voice choosing that moment to close up with nerves.

Gray wandered up and down the row of movie rentals, searching for the perfect scary thriller. He smirked, bending low to read the titles on the bottom rack. For a rare change, he was still wearing his shirt and pants. His boxers had disappeared at the park, allowing Juvia a scandalous view of his pert backside.

She gulped, fearful that he would hear her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest. _**Juvia must show Gray-sama she can be a good friend. He paid for the meal and Juvia must make things even!**_ "Juvia will rent the movies and pay for snacks!" She pouted as her volume seemed to startle Gray and he stood up, removing his ass from her field of sight.

"Sounds good." He handed his choice to the blunette and headed over to the refreshments on display. Over his shoulder he said, "I have plenty of beverages at home, so what kind of movie snack do you like?"

"Juvia likes chocolate and popcorn." She reached out and snagged a large bag of candy coated chocolate. "But Juvia does not like these kinds of popcorn."

Curious in spite of himself, Gray stopped looking over the junk food and turned to face his guild mate. "What's wrong with those bags of popcorn?"

Justifiably proud of her culinary skills, Juvia lost her self-consciousness and explained how much healthier she could prepare popcorn than a mass-produced and processed factory product. At the end of her ramble she concluded, "Juvia knows she adds back some of the bad things the factories dump in, but moderation is the key. Juvia chooses exactly what and how much to use." She paused and blushed. "Juvia is sorry for rambling!"

"Uh, no, don't be sorry for having enthusiasm for your passions." Gray braced himself for a flood, but Juvia either didn't register his poor word choices or was still beating herself up for blathering on about popcorn. "It does make sense, making your treat exactly as you want gives you more room in your other dietary choices." _**Huh, Juvia isn't just a crazy fan-girl.**_

Holding onto the movies and candy, Juvia allowed her smile to beam. _**Gray-sama really listened to Juvia!**_

The ice mage walked over to the wall freezer and snagged a carton of his favourite ice cream, spotting a bag of regular un-popped popcorn on his way back to the counter. He scooped that up as well, placing his selections on the counter as Juvia added hers. The cashier totalled up their purchases and retrieved the movie rental disks. Juvia paid and handed the bag to Gray who was in the middle of unbuttoning his shirt. The bell over the door tinkled merrily as the duo exited into the early evening air.

* * *

Lucy placed her forehead against the coolness of her fridge, hoping to bleed away some of the steam taking over her thoughts. _**What else can I pick from my old list that isn't too indecent? Is sex an equivalent exchange for reading a story? Lord, I hope so.**_ The noises coming from the pots and pans on top of the stove drew her out of her reverie. Lifting one of the lids, Lucy stirred the contents and broke up more pieces of the spicy sausage she'd added to the sauce. The large stock pot of salted water was almost to the boil.

The enticing aroma wafting from the kitchen had Natsu drooling. _**Can there be anything that smells better than food and Lucy?**_ He sniffed deeply and walked in a daze to the kitchen. Happy finished the punch line to his joke to the empty room. Smirking, he ran over to his favourite eavesdropping spot and began to listen.

The blonde was concentrating on adding the finishing touches to her pasta sauce and was oblivious to the slayer stalking her movements. She rummaged in a cupboard for chilli flakes, taking the lid off and shaking a healthy amount in the pot. Taking up the spoon again and stirring, she hummed.

Closer and closer Natsu crept. He was so entranced by the wondrous scent, Natsu walked into Lucy's back. She shrieked and dropped the wooden spoon and only the slayer's fast reflexes stopped her from pressing against the hot stove.

"Dammit Natsu! You scared the loving spirit clean out of me!" Pulse pounding, Lucy whirled in his embrace.

"Sorry! But I couldn't help myself! It's the most amazing smell I've ever come across! Did you do something different with your recipe?"

Lucy glared and moved her hands to grip Natsu by the shoulders. ""What are you babbling about? It's the same as always." Her fingers dug into the material of his vest and Lucy marshalled her inner fortitude, needing to keep herself from ripping his clothes off. _**Maybe he's warm and taking off his vest could be considered a good deed!**_

Paying no attention to Lucy's turmoil, Natsu took another lingering sniff and grinned happily. "You're right, the spaghetti sauce _is_ the same as always. You're what smells so good."


	9. Instincts

**A/N: sorry updating took so long, this week I have a cold and I focused on my Nalu Love Fest stories the week before. **

* * *

"Natsu! Stop sniffing me like a dog!" Lucy swatted ineffectually at the slayer.

Scrunching up his nose, Natsu suddenly pressed it to Lucy's wrist and snuffled up her arm. He took several deep inhalations at the juncture of her neck. Lucy squealed and pushed hard. Natsu backed up a couple of steps, his face a mixture of embarrassment and shock.

"S-sorry Lucy!" His eyes went wide and then dropped. "I don't know exactly what came over me."

"Natsu, can you go back and wait for dinner in the living room?" Lucy picked up her wooden spoon and stirred the sauce, trying to get her brain to calm down.

"I could, but no." Natsu watched Lucy busy herself at the stove. "I'm serious about this coupling business, and I'm gonna talk about sniffing you 'cause you asked for honest communication on your list."

The blonde turned down the heat on the stove, wiped her hands on a towel and faced her partner, "You pick now to listen to me?"

"I always listen!" Natsu looked away and down at his feet, "I just don't always do what you want." He squared his shoulders and leaned his face closer to Lucy. "I will try to give you want you want, I'd like to win the special spread over the other two couples. We're great partners and I know we can do it."

Lucy would've lost her grip on the spoon if she'd been carrying it. _**We can do it? Great idea! Fuck eating dinner! Let's do it all night long!**_ The giddy excitement dancing in the pit of her stomach made her breathe a bit faster, the hairs on her arms rose up and she swore that she experienced a phantom orgasm.

Natsu was smiling, his earnest and innocent face shining clean of any libidinous thoughts. He easily registered Lucy's response, but concluded she was merely gung-ho over winning. "You're the brains, I'm the brawn - as partners we are unbeatable!" His grin was so blinding, Lucy had to close her eyes to organize her thoughts.

Fully intending to distract Natsu with _anything_ later, Lucy nodded and smiled. "You're more than just brawn, Natsu! We're a great team, but the food will be ready soon. Aren't you hungry?" _**Yes, make him think of his stomach...**_

The pink haired slayer nodded, "We still need to talk. If I get a story, I need to give you something more."

"Natsu, not everything can be equal." Her smile weakened, "I appreciate the thought you're putting into this, but the food will not cook itself!" With her hands on his shoulders, Lucy ushered her partner out of the kitchen and returned to finishing dinner.

Happy flew behind the slayer as he exited the kitchen. "Natsu! Aren't you curious what Lucy wrote on her first paper?"

"Sure, I guess." Natsu tilted his head in thought, "She did have a lot written on it. I don't even know what kinds of things a couple should be doing anyway."

The exceed gleefully rubbed his paws and floated over to the far corner of the room and gestured to Natsu to join him. In a whisper he conferred with his partner. "She's got the first list in her pocket, liberate it and learn what couples should be doing." The blue cat looked left and right and added in an even softer whisper, "I bet there's lots of good information on it."

"Great idea!" Natsu agreed heartily. "Using her ideas to win the special spread, Luce'll be amazed!"

His eyes shining round and bright, the devil cat giggled and nodded. "Amazed!"

* * *

The museum was as boring as Gajeel feared, and crowded with all sorts of unique individuals. Levy wandered freely, examining the art pieces with a critical eye. She gave another apologetic smile to her metal pierced companion. "Sorry! If I hadn't taken so long changing, we'd have been here before the multitudes descended."

"What's it gonna take for you to believe me? You were fast changing and I hardly noticed the wait." The slayer crossed his arms and wrinkled his nose. "One of these 'masterpieces' isn't cured properly."

Levy's eyes brightened, "You can tell that?"

"I'm a dragon slayer, the nose knows."

"Which one is it?" Levy pointed to a bright blue table covered with faux food. "Is it that display?"

Gently Gajeel cupped her elbow with a hand and bent down to whisper in her ear. "How bad do you want to know?"

* * *

"Oi! How long does it take to make pop-corn? Our drinks are getting warm!" Gray shouted this from his slouched position on his couch. "I dumped the candy in a bowl and I'm going to start eating it if you don't get out here!"

"Forgive Juvia, but Gray-sama must be the worst ice-mage ever if his drink is getting warm!" _**Juvia will tease Gray-sama like Juvia would with Gajeel-kun! Gray-sama is treating Juvia like a friend, friends tease each other.**_

Almost against his own will, Gray laughed. A short bark in reply to Juvia's humour that grew into a chuckle and lasted a good two minutes until he had tears in his eyes. He was knuckling away the traces even as she came into the room bearing a giant bowl of popcorn. She grinned, happy that her joke had met with success.

"Juvia is glad Gray-sama is her friend." The water mage sat down on the couch leaving a respectable distance between herself and Gray. She put the bowl down, "Juvia thinks we should watch Gray's movie first."

Gray clicked the remote and shook his head. "You took too long, your choice is already queued up." He dug his hand into the popcorn and fed himself. "This is really good!"

"Thank you Gray-sama!" Juvia blushed, drew her legs up and nestled into the far corner of the couch. Gray couldn't help his eyes being drawn to Juvia's long toned legs. She had shed her signature boots but was still wearing her silky stockings. The thigh-high slit in her dress acted as a magnet to Gray's eyes. With every little shift Juvia made to get comfortable, the ice mage found himself looking over to see more smooth stroke-able skin.

The opening credits played and Juvia sat entranced with the movie. She was spellbound, laughing and being concerned for the actors on screen in turns. Gray watched the film with only a portion of his attention. He spent more time taking in his companion's reactions to the comedy.

The candy was barely touched and the popcorn was mostly eaten as the end credits rolled. Gray took the finished bowl away to the kitchen and hollered to Juvia, "You want another drink? Same thing or something stronger?"

"Juvia does not want to be a bother, whatever Gray-sama is having is fine with Juvia."

"Okay, can you put in the next movie?"

"Yes!" Juvia padded over to the lacrima player and switched out the movies. She snagged the bowl of candy and placed it on the end table near her side of the couch. "What is this one about?" The water mage had raised her voice for Gray to hear her better in the kitchen, but he exited as she was speaking, causing her to blush and lower her volume.

Gray gave Juvia a frozen mug of beer, "I forgot about that candy. Are you not going to share?" He sat down with his drink, taking a deep draft. He turned expectantly to Juvia who was taking a dainty sip of her beverage.

"Would Gray-sama like Juvia to get another bowl?" She started to get up, but Gray restrained her with a light touch of his hand on her elbow and shook his head. Juvia sank back down in confusion. "Juvia does not know what Gray-sama wants."

"I think friends can eat candy out of the same bowl, we managed with the popcorn."

Juvia hesitantly nodded and moved the much smaller bowl to the middle of the couch.

Gray took another gulp of his drink to hide a smile. "Sit closer and I'll hold the candy, that way it doesn't spill. It would be a shame to feed the couch." He clicked the remote, settled it on his end table and waggled his fingers, reaching for the candy bowl.

Trying to keep her features calm, Juvia gave her crush the candy. She couldn't keep the heat from rising in her cheeks as Gray patted the sofa cushion beside him. After a second of hesitation, she slid over and sat stiffly upright. Juvia let out a gasp as Gray slung an arm around her shoulder and pulled her against his side. "Just consider this more training - and making it easier to share the candy."

Wordless, Juvia glanced over and nodded. Gray gave every appearance of detachment as he clicked the volume of the movie higher and dropped the remote next to his drink. The water mage curled her legs to the side and slumped over a bit to rest more fully against Gray. He didn't react, so Juvia relaxed further.

"I hope you like scary movies Juvia."

"Juvia should have warned Gray-sama about that..." With an almost pained expression, Juvia angled her head to look over at Gray. "Juvia's imagination runs away with her." She set her lips in a firm line and gripped the hem of her dress. "Juvia might get very scared."

"I'm prepared for that," Gray reached over and turned off the lamp. Juvia shivered and Gray squeezed her closer. "Try to relax and enjoy the show."

* * *

Lucy dished up the plates and yelled for Natsu and Happy to join her. Almost immediately, Natsu raced over and sat down in his usual chair. Happy flew over and perched in his seat. The blonde sat down and picked up her fork, bemused by Natsu patiently waiting for her to dig in. "What's so special about tonight that you're waiting for me to eat before stuffing your face?"

"Dunno, just thought it was some sort of couple thing." Natsu had the grace to appear a little embarrassed. "Thank you for cooking, Lucy."

Happy and Lucy exchanged glances, mild surprise and uncertainty being chief. Shrugging their shoulders, the other two members of team Natsu began eating dinner. Natsu ate his customary three helpings slathered in hot sauce and extra chilli flakes. Lucy got up from the table first and started to clear away the dishes. Happy dumped his dish in the sink and flew back over to whisper something in Natsu's ear. The slayer nodded and gathered the rest of the plates to bring to the kitchen.

Happy rubbed his stomach and gave a satisfied burp. "I'm going to visit Charle!" Without waiting for any replies, the exceed used his aera and flew through the living room and exited out of Lucy's apartment via her bedroom.

"So Lucy," Natsu mumbled, "I, uh, wanna talk about my earlier actions." He picked up a dish towel and began drying the plates on the wash board.

Lucy felt like her skin was too tight, the food she'd eaten had been so appetising earlier, now felt like solid lead in her stomach. "We don't have to talk about it." She kept her hands plunged into the warm soapy water, washing and re-washing the silverware.

"I need to talk about it." Natsu hung his head and sighed. "It was kinda like an accident. You smelt so good and my instincts kinda took over."

"Instincts?" Lucy set the pots and pans to soaking. She wiped the splashed water clean and drained the rinse water. "What are you talking about?" Lucy dried her hands and turned to look at her best friend from under her lashes.

"Uh, well..." Natsu blushed, "It's not that big a deal. I had an impulse to see where the scent was strongest." He dropped the towel on the counter and patted Lucy's upper arm. "Sorry."

"Um, okay." Lucy wanted to be done with this conversation. If glossing over this 'instinct' answer made him move on, then she'd not probe further. "Let's go into the living room and pick a game to play."

"Great idea!" Natsu smiled easily, "I'll even give you a choice. How's about truth or dare, twister or cards?"

Lucy could feel her anxiety come rushing back. Each choice was fraught with danger; 'truth or dare' was to be avoided at all costs, 'twister' was too physical and cards? Cards seem harmless.

"Cards sounds good, Natsu." Lucy went over to her storage bookcase and picked up her deck of playing cards. Her pink haired friend had dragged over the club chair and placed it across the coffee table. Lucy watched Natsu scamper back to the kitchen and heard him rummage around. She sat down on the couch in exasperation. "What are you doing?"

Natsu came back brandishing several shot glasses and a huge bottle of sake. "We need this for cards! Dragons Wild poker! You're gonna love it Luce!"

"I was thinking more along the lines of gin rummy, hearts or euchre." Lucy bit her lips and clenched her hands together. _**Sober I can barely restrain myself from touching him! Drunk? He's gonna get more than he bargained for.**_ "Maybe there's some other game you'd rather play?"

"But you agreed, we have to learn to couple!" Natsu sat down and allowed the bottle and glasses to thunk down on the coffee table. "This'll be fun!"

Lucy watched Natsu grin, exposing his canines in a blinding display of enthusiasm. She gulped, she could feel the treacherous thoughts in the back of her head growing stronger, hissing to the angel perched on her shoulder. _**We can handle getting drunk! It's just a game...look at his happy little face...look at his smokin' abs...later we can touch them and blame the booze...**_

Natsu could smell more of the exhilarating scent wafting off of Lucy. He was of two minds over the matter. He knew precious few things of how females thought, but he had his own knowledge of Lucy. Deciding to not worry over things out of his control, he inhaled and enjoyed the warmth stirring his nerve endings. It felt as soothing as a bellyful of fire and yet made the animal part of his brain clamour for more.


	10. Inhibitions

Natsu began to pour shots and explained the game quickly to Lucy. "For every discard you want to make, you gotta do a shot. We play for points - first person to five wins. Each round is worth a point, the strongest hand winning after two sets of discards. Who ever wins the hand gets to make a rule that's binding for the rest of the game, like saying two's are wild. All other poker rules apply. Easy, huh?"

Lucy sat rubbing her thighs together as she took the words Natsu had just spoken with innocence and began imagining what she'd do to Natsu with some cord binding. She was shaken back to herself after Natsu leaned forward and thrust his face into hers and snuffled. Lucy pulled back, locking eyes with Natsu and answered, "Sounds easy enough."

He grinned after settling into his seat and shuffled the cards. "You still gotta tell me what you want in exchange for the bedtime story. We should have a forfeit for the game too!"

_**Your hot naked body - spread eagled on my bed, at my mercy.**_ Lucy licked her lips, sucked back into her bondage fantasy. It took Natsu snapping his fingers in her face to pull back from her happy place. "Sorry! Just considering my options!"

A look of almost animal cunning crossed Natsu's face. It seemed every time Lucy got lost in thought, her alluring scent would intensify. He savoured the warmth permeating his nerves, the odd tingles that raced with the pulses of blood in his veins. Natsu had an understanding of adult matters, a haphazard collection of lessons gleaned from Makarov, Gildarts, Macao and Wakaba. Perhaps not the best and brightest of models to glean sex education from - but, they were men in fact who _had _had intimate physical contact with assorted females. (And in Gildarts' case, multiple serial trysts with an ungodly large number of women.)

Natsu had a biased view of human copulation, courtesy of his male guild mates. The slayer also had a dragon's view of mating; one special person who would become his and his alone. A strong female who would allow him to join her nest, prove to her his strength, and take control and instigate the mating process. Dragons had the right of this messy and confusing process. The female surely should and would tell their prospective mate when and where they would consummate their relationship.

Snippets of conflicting advice ran through Natsu's head; falling back on his instincts, he decided to follow Lucy's lead and respond to her overtures when she finally decided she would claim him. With another guileless grin, Natsu dealt out the first hand of the card game.

* * *

Levy rolled the words Gajeel had just spoken around in her head, _**How bad do you want to know? **_His touch on her elbow was embarrassingly arousing. The petite bluenette considered breaking Gajeel's hold on her arm, but the skin on skin contact was too enjoyable. "I guess that depends on what sort of quid pro quo you have in mind, Gajeel." Levy was proud to note her voice didn't shake or waver.

Deciding two could play, Levy turned to look up into her companion's eyes. "I confess, I don't even know, what could you want from me?"

The slayer's grin widened even more at Levy's riposte. "Let's get out of here and feed you supper. We can have a loooooong chat about what I want."

* * *

Only half way through the movie, Gray was in a state of arousal. Juvia kept burrowing into his side, clutching his arm and inadvertently rubbing her breasts on his arm. She kept making cute whimpers that just tugged at his heart strings. After another main character got bludgeoned on screen, Juvia pressed her face into Gray's shoulder and moaned piteously. The ice mage paused the movie. "Juvia, are you okay?"

"Juvia will be fine once the movie is over." Her words were barely understandable, seeing as she was face planting herself against his body. "Juvia is really having a good time, Gray-sama."

With a sigh, Gray turned the lamp on and disentangled himself from Juvia. "You can be honest, you don't like horror movies. We don't have to finish watching it."

The water mage pulled away slightly and hugged herself, rubbing her upper arms and then dropped them on her knees. "Perhaps Juvia could learn to like scary movies." She gave a hesitant smile to Gray, ducking her head and blushing when he smiled back.

"Let's do something else. At the restaurant you said I'd have to try to make you melt. Are you ready to train some more?" Gray allowed some of his wolfish feelings to come out in his grin. He moved himself on the couch so he was facing Juvia more and trapped her hand under his. Juvia trembled lightly but remained solid.

"You okay?" Next, he slid his fingers over the delicate skin of her wrist and skimmed it over her sleeve clad arm. Juvia was staring at Gray's hand as it traversed up and up and gently ghosted to a stop over her collar bones. She couldn't believe Gray was touching her and giving every appearance of enjoying it.

Bemused with focused look in Gray's eyes, Juvia sat still and tried to commit to memory the myriad sensations she was feeling. Five heart beats later, his fingers were on the move again, teasing Juvia's lips. Her cheeks flared with pink, and Gray's cocky smile was growing.

He leaned closer, inch by inch. Gray skimmed his hand over Juvia's cheek, marvelling at the softness of her skin. He searched her eyes, trying to discern any of her thoughts. Her lashes fluttered down.

"Don't hide from me."

Juvia pulled back the slightest amount and that was all it took for Gray to act impulsively. He placed his other hand on her upper thigh. "What are you going to do?'

"Juvia is strong. Juvia will remain solid!"

"And if I do this?" Gray moved his hand on her thigh higher.

"J-juvia will remain solid."

Slowly, his hand moved to the slit in her dress and made contact with bare skin. He rubbed circles into her flesh as she fought valiantly to not liquefy. Her eyes popped back open to see Gray staring blankly, seemingly lost in thought.

* * *

"Luce! Wasn't this the best card game ever?" Natsu grinned drunkenly. "It was fun, right?"

"You're only saying that because you won," Lucy grimaced. "I can't believe my streak of luck had to run out after you made your last wild rule. Or am I so lucky, that you won and get your forfeit?"

"I don't know Luce, all I know is you gotta read me two bedtime stories. I'd like to know what you want in return." Natsu capped the sake and started collecting the cards into a neat pile. "When I think about it, this coupling thing seems kinda hard and easy at the same time."

Lucy burst out laughing and tried very hard to rein in her guffaws. "Natsu, coupling works best when it's hard." She went beet red and tears ran down her cheeks. "You really gotta stop with the 'coupling' word, it makes me think wrong things."

Abandoning the cards, Natsu took another strong inhalation. "But we have to practice coupling! We're the best partners and I don't wanna lose to Gray or Gajeel. I'm taking this seriously. You need to tell me what you want from me."

Lucy picked up the last of her shot glasses and tipped back the remnants of the sake. She licked her lips and nodded resolutely. Natsu merely watched her with a mild questioning look on his adorable face. Aware the drink was loosening her inhibitions, Lucy tried again to squash her desires. Looking at the slayer in his open vest and low slung pants was proving too much a distraction.

"You sure you want to know what I want?" Lucy was almost as surprised as Natsu at the emergence of these belligerent words. "Because I don't think you're ready to hear it."

Natsu took another deep breath, inhaling Lucy's intoxicating scent and hissing the breath out from his mouth. "I'm ready."

"Well, come over here and sit beside me." Lucy patted the sofa cushion. "That's if you want to be able to beat Gray and Gajeel."

* * *

Levy was in a hyper state of excitement. She'd finally started to flirt with Gajeel in the manner she'd always wished to, and it seemed he was reciprocating. Right now they were walking towards some exclusive restaurant and Gajeel was going to give her the inside scoop on the art they'd examined in exchange for some quid pro quo Levy was only too anxious to allow. "Gajeel, where is this restaurant? We're heading into a residential neighbourhood."

The slayer squeezed Levy's hand and blushed mildly. "I never said it was a restaurant, did I? I mentioned the chef took requests and it was exclusive." Gajeel started walking a little faster, forcing Levy to almost trot to keep up. "We can train in the comfort of my house just as well as in a restaurant."

Levy smirked, "We can train all night long if that's what you want."

* * *

Gray wasn't even aware he was breathing heavy. He still had one hand on Juvia's upper thigh and the other gently touching her cheek. His eyes were intensely focused on hers. His calloused fingers trailed back to Juvia's lips. "What are you going to do?"

A deep sigh was forced from the water mage. "Juvia is strong. Juvia will not melt!"

The ice mage leaned closer, the same imp of impropriety that decided Gray should place his hand on the bare skin of Juvia's upper thigh also determined he should invade her personal space. "I think I can get you to melt." His voice was husky and made Juvia weak in the knees.

"Juvia is p-prepared, Gray-sama!"

* * *

Even in his slightly drunken state, Natsu moved to the couch full of animal grace and brash assurance. Lucy's mouth dried up. Her stomach felt tied in knots and her inner sultry devil was cart-wheeling and planning the debauchery of her partner. Lucy couldn't help but let out a pleased sigh as Natsu's heat enveloped her.

"Now what?" Natsu looked expectantly at his best friend. "We should do something from your first list. You had an awful lot of things on it."

"Huh?" Lucy wasn't sure if the alcohol she'd consumed had made her crazy drunk or if the unrelenting lust storms had stolen her brains. "You want to do something from my first list? You have no idea what I wrote down, do you?" She slid her hand into her pocket and felt for the folded paper, relaxing as soon as she felt the edges.

"Of course I don't! But you always have good ideas, so why not?" Natsu squirmed a little closer to Lucy. "I'm doing my best to couple with you - so in the interests of 'honest communication', I think I need to know what sorts of things couples do." He grinned and quickly burrowed his hand into Lucy's pocket. He ignored her shrieks and held it triumphantly aloft.

"Natsu! Give it back!" Lucy was so overcome with mortification she started trying to climb his torso in order to reach her paper. Natsu stood up with Lucy clinging to him and tried to shake her off. Still being a bit drunk, he misjudged his ability to balance and fell backwards.

Natsu grunted as the air in his lungs was knocked out by Lucy landing solidly on his body and also because her bountiful chest was making friends with his face. Lucy took this opportunity to snatch and crumple her paper into a ball, compressing it savagely. "Why did you do that?!" She pushed herself up and off his face as she realized Natsu wasn't moving or yelling back at her. "Are you okay?"

"M'okay Luce."

"You don't sound so okay." Lucy flushed a deeper red as she realized she had her knees on either side of his hips now.

"If you wanted to play rough, you coulda said so." Natsu grinned up at the blonde.

"No, I don't want to play rough. I just don't want to share what's on my list. It's personal." Lucy pouted and began to get up off Natsu.

The slayer frowned, confused. "Isn't all coupling personal?"

Falling back on anger and misdirection, Lucy let her words get louder. "Would you stop using that phrase? I need a bath and then some sleep. For trying to steal my list, only one bedtime story."

"Aw Luce!" Natsu pushed himself upright and made his sad face. "But I won the card game."

Lucy shoved the balled up list back into her pocket and glared at Natsu. "You're lucky I'm not kicking you out. Try not to burn down my apartment while I bathe."

"Okay," Natsu muttered to Lucy's back. He got up from the floor and made tracks for Lucy's bedroom. He stood in front of her bookcase and searched for her book of bedtime stories. Finding it fairly easily, he put it down on her bedside table. Natsu stripped off his vest and neatly folded his scarf, placing it on Lucy's dresser.

About to turn around and hop into bed, the open edge of her top drawer caught his attention. The merest scrap of black lace was peeking out. Natsu concentrated, he could hear splashing from the bathroom, the neighbours' rhythmic squeaky bed (and accompanying heavy breathing), a toddler wailing for his binky and nothing much else. Before he could talk himself out of it, Natsu began exploring Lucy's collection of panties. Ten minutes later, he'd catalogued his favourites and ranked each pair in terms of easiest to remove.

Becoming restless and more than a bit bored, Natsu wandered back over to Lucy's bed. He removed his pants and left them on top of his crumpled vest. Feeling suddenly tired, he crawled under the comforter and waited for his best friend to come to bed.

Lucy stomped into the bathroom, stripped off her clothes and dumped her most relaxing bubble bath into the tub as she ran the water. Grumbling to herself, she remembered the crumpled paper in her pocket and had to go through her clothes to find it. Now glowering, Lucy held her naughty wish list in one hand and rummaged through her medicine cabinet to find her matches.

After the paper was reduced to naught but ashes, Lucy slipped into her bath. She sat and tried to relax. Her imagination was busy conjuring lurid fantasies. _**Natsu wrapped in ribbons, mmmm - make that naked, on his stomach and his bare ass just waiting for a smack from my hand...let him roll us over and press his whole body against mine...**_

Lucy rose out of her fantasy as the water began to cool off. Sighing she dressed in her pyjamas and towelled her hair dry. Carrying a glass of water, Lucy headed to her bedroom, hoping that Natsu would already be asleep.

The blonde pushed the door open and sighed. _**Why must I be so tempted?**_ Natsu had kicked the comforter off the bed. He was clad only in his boxers, his limbs sprawled across the whole of the bed.

"Natsu! Stop hogging the bed!" Lucy ordered. "Move or you'll regret it."

"Make me."


End file.
